MANILA, Philippines — If the UP Fighting Maroons 75-47 win over the Ateneo Blue Eagles on October 30 exemplified their dominance this UAAP Season 87 men's basketball tournament, their 47-67 defeat to the also-ran NU Bulldogs on November 3, on the other hand, showed how vulnerable they still can be.

Not that his team wanted this by design, but coach Goldwin Monteverde said that this kind of loss should help develop the character of the Fighting Maroons more, learning to bounce back from a shocking and frustrating loss at the UST Quadricentennial Pavilion

The defeat dropped UP to 9-2 which is still good enough for second place in the standings. However, the loss delayed the Maroons from clinching one of the two Final Four twice-to-beat incentives.

"You really can't have a perfect game. These players are human beings also. There are days like this one. I believe this kind of game should make us stronger also," said Monteverde, whose team shot an abysmal 26.2 percent from the field.

"This game would teach somebody character on how to keep up or endure whatever comes your way. This loss could be big for us also as human beings, how to improve on things, both in the game and at the same time in character."

Aside from the poor shooting game, the Maroons could not take care of the ball as well as they turned the ball over 30 times with the Bulldogs scoring 23 off of it.

If UP could not find its rhythm offensively, NU, on other hand, was having a blast with a 43.9 percent shooting including an impressive 41.2 percent from beyond the arc.

"I think if we could execute better but I'm not gonna take anything away from NU, they played good defense on us tonight," said Monteverde.

Up next for the Fighting Maroons are the defending champs De La Salle Green Archers (10-1) as they clash on November 10, with the former looking to avenge their first round loss.

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